The Second Rising
by Stinkylicious
Summary: Surviving ten years after the outbreak, people of all ages learn to cope with living in a postapocalyptic world.
1. Chapter 1

(Hey there, everybody. I know it's been quite some time since I've added anything, but I've just recently been given the inspiration to write again. A combination of long zombie talks and shitty zombie movies led me to write some redemption. And speaking of shitty zombie movies, don't go see Resident Evil: Extinction. You will cry. It's terrible.)**  
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**The Second Rising**

**Chapter 1**

Strips of sunlight that managed to sneak through the bars on the windows awoke Ryko. He blinked once, then twice, and finally gave up on trying to fall back to sleep. The shirtless man rose to his feet and stepped over various sleeping bodies that littered the same room. The man was trying to maneuver his way towards a lone sink next to the only door in the room.

Ryko turned a knob and waited a moment for the rust-filled, yellow colored water to pass through until it seemed to get as clear as possible for traveling through the old pipes. He slipped his hands beneath the faucet to the warm water flowing out. He splashed a handful of the liquid on his face, followed by a few splashes to his arms and chest. This was the closest he could get to a shower, a privileged not experienced by many in nearly ten years.

None of the nearby towels were clean, but it didn't matter to him. The heat from the sun would dry him off faster anyways. Ryko maneuvered his way back to where he woke from so that he could grab his shirt. The sunlight had moved deeper into the room, causing someone to stir and roll over. Snores soon rose from the man as Ryko exited the room enviously.

The hallway was also filled with sleeping bodies. Men, women, and children huddled together in clumps, making passage difficult. Ryko stepped carefully, shirt in hand, between bodies and spread legs so as not to disturb anyone. The heavy red doors at the end of the hall watched Ryko's careful navigation through the minefield of people. Reaching the finish line, Ryko pushed open one of the red doors. It groaned open loudly, answered by groans from several of the people awoken by the noise. Sunlight flooded into the hallway, causing people to turn and glare at Ryko. All he could do was apologize and continue onward.

The blaring heat of the sun seemed to get worse with each passing day. Ryko stepped out into the daylight and onto the dusty earth. He paused for a moment to get used to the heat and brightness. The first thing to come into clear view was a body sitting against the building he had just walked out of. The body of this young female was not heaving with breaths. Her head hung forward, and her hair was completely dried out. Her arms hung limp to the dirt, with he hands loosely open. Ryko moved closer to her and knelt down to find that her skin had been cooked to a leathery state.

"Poor girl..." a voice said from behind. Ryko recognized the voice as his friend Megan.

"It's not the worst way you could go," he answered without turning around to face her. "Especially these days. Maybe she's the lucky one."

"It's still sad."

"It always is."

Ryko turned to face his friend, and she greeted him with a genuine smile. Megan stood 5' 6" at twenty years of age. She wore a blue tank top and short green shorts. There was a black leather glove on her right hand to hide the fact that she was missing her little and ring finger. She felt that leaving her hand exposed left people uncomfortable. Her clothes were torn and dirty, as were the white tennis shoes she wore. Her shoulder-length hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and her green eyes shone with excitement like they always did.

Ryko looked her up and down once. "Interesting choice of dress today."

Megan put her hands on her hips and tilted her head. "At least I'm actually dressed today."

Ryko realized he was still holding his shirt in his hand, so he pulled it on as Megan stared. Ryko stood a few inches taller than Megan at 5' 10". He was twenty-two years old, and the two of them coincidentally shared the same birthday. He wiped the sweat from his forehead before holding his arms out to his sides for approval. "Better?"

Megan walked up to him and hooked arms. "Dressed to the nines," she answered with a wink. "You ready to go?"

"Go where?" asked Ryko.

"There's a few executions at noon in the stadium. They've got three prisoners today. If we leave now we can get good seats." Megan pulled at Ryko's arm towards the old football stadium.

"Oh dammit that's right," Ryko said more to himself than anyone else. "They want me to make a speech at this one." Megan looked up at him confused. "Well one of the men being executed was from that Chicago mission a few years back. They expect me to say something to him or about him or something like that."

"Ah, so the 'Hero of Chicago' is giving out his introduction?" she asked with a laugh.

Ryko thought for a moment as they walked. "I guess so...but don't call me that."

"Well you are a hero. You saved me..." Megan trailed off, and the rest of the walk was in silence.

The trip through the campus was familiar by this point. Ryko had been there for five years while Megan had only been there for two. Before this, Megan had been in a camp inside of Chicago, and Ryko would never say where he had been before. He believed that it was his own business.

The two reached the stadium soon enough and parted ways. Megan headed for the bleechers while Ryko walked towards the old changing rooms. Ryko was greeted by a man named Nathaniel Hughes. Nathaniel was the announcer of these types of events.

"There he is! The Hero of Chicago graces us!" Nathaniel called out to Ryko. The announcer gripped Ryko's hand in a firm shake and patted his shoulder. "You're a bit late, but no worries. I'll take you right onto he field from here. Once we're out there, I'll start out with the regular crowd-hyping and whatnot. I'll give you a little intro and let you speak, but you're going to be last. Your man is last since his crimes are the worst of the night."

Nathaniel spoke quickly as they walked. Ryko and Nathaniel passes quickly through the locker rooms, but on the way they saw the prisoners. They sat chained to a bench in the order which they were going to be executed. Each wore a hood over his head to hide their faces until the final moments. The prisoner Ryko was going to speak for looked up slowly. Ryko made eye-contact with the only eye visible under the large, dark hood. After a few seconds the prisoner looked back down to the floor in shame.

Back outside, Megan pushed through the crowd of protesters that showed before every execution. They held signs reading 'This is Murder' and 'Stop the Madness'. One of them stepped in front of Megan and shouted "Please! Please don't watch this barbaric entertainment! Don't let it continue!" Megan shoved the protester back and made her way inside.

Megan stepped out into the bleachers of the stadium which was already beginning to fill up. Guards with high powered rifles lined the top rows of both sides of the stadium, although the audience was only allowed to sit on one half. These spectators wore colors of red and black as if they were watching a college football game. A group of middle-aged men, two with missing limbs and the other two with large scars, spelled out the word 'KILL' on their chests in alternating colors. Megan sat herself where the crowd was dense.

Fifteen minutes passed until Ryko and Nathaniel walked into the open. The crowd began to cheer as they knew the show was about to begin. The football field turned killing field had tables scattered about. Each table contained weapons that were grouped by type. Some tables contained knives, others had swords and axes, and still others held guns and other projectile weapons. Also on the field were makeshift torture devices like one would find from medieval times. Finally, there was a caged ring in the center of the field which towered over everything else. Stairs were placed alongside the cage leading to a wooden platform above it. Ryko and Nathaniel made their way to the top of the cage.

"Ladies and gentleman!" shouted Nathaniel to the crowd. Ryko was surprised by how loud the man's voice would get without the use of microphones. "We welcome you all to the monthly showing of the Execution Exhibition!" He waited for the cheers to calm before speaking again. "We have for you fine people three very convicted and very guilty criminals! I know you're not here to listen to me talk, so let's bring out number one!"

The crowd burst into cheer and excitement as two armed guards brought forth the first prisoner. The hood still shrouded his face, and his hands were still bound in shackles. The man was led into the center of the cage where he was chained to a ring in the center. One guard remained inside the cage as the second exited and stood at the entrance. The crowd still chanted and called for the man's blood.

"This man!" boomed Nathaniel to the crowd as the hood was pulled off the prisoner's head. "This man, in a time when we most need to stand together and trust in one another, was caught stealing food from one of the breadlines!" The crowd booed loudly as the man in the cage never spoke or raised his head. "So I ask you fine, honest people: How should this criminal scum meet God?"

Te crowd burst into a frenzy of responses. Each person shouted methods for the man to die. It seemed to Ryko that it was impossible to tell the difference between all the demands, but suddenly Nathaniel spoke. "Aha! It seems that one member of the audience tonight wishes vengeance of old times! Guards! Remove the prisoner's hands!"

The prisoner looked up with wide eyes as a guard entered the cage with an axe. The crowd cheered in approval as the first guard inside the cage clubbed the prisoner in the knees to make him fall forward. The second guard took the thief's shackles and chained them to the ground, preventing the man from standing back up or moving around. The guard with the axe then stood to the prisoner's side and lined the axe up to the prisoner's wrists. The crowd grew silent as the guard brought the axe high into the air. Nathaniel looked down with a smile, and Ryko held his breathe like everybody else watching in anticipation.

The axe plunged deep into the earth, and the crowd's cheers were immediately drowned out by the screams of pain from the prisoner. The crowd continued to cheer as the prisoner rose to his knees. He looked at his wrists to see that his hands had been cleanly separated from him. They were still in shackles on the ground. The man drew in a breathe to scream once more, but found no voice inside of himself. He choked on the pain and shock of what was happening.

"Come on!" a man yelled out from the crowd. "Really teach him a lesson! Put some glass shards in him or something!" Some of the audience members laughed, but they cheered in agreement.

"Such a bloodthirsty crowd tonight!" Nathaniel replied. "I love it! Guards! See what you can do about that!" One guard took an empty glass bottle and grabbed one of the man's stumps. The guard faced the arm upwards and brought the bottle down on the exposed bone. The bottle shattered, throwing glass all over the ground, but also leaving broken shards in the man's wound.

The scene was too much for one crowd member. "For God's sake, finish him off!" He yelled.

Nathaniel sighed. "All right, al right. Guards! Send him to God!" At this command, a guard drew a pistol from his waist. He checked to make sure a round was loaded, and he pressed the barrel to the back of the prisoner's head. The gunshot ended the man's cries of pain and started another cheer from the crowd.

"Let this be a lesson to you all!" Nathaniel yelled out. "The guards began to drag off the dead prisoner as he continued. "We are all hungry! We are all starving! Even so, we are all making and honest living here! Make it known: If you steal from one of us, you feel the wrath of all of us!" The crowd roared in agreement. The four middle-aged men slapped high fives and bumped chests. "Now!" Nathaniel started again. "Bring out the second prisoner of the day!"

From the same entrance the first prisoner came out of, the second moved forward slowly. The guards had to keep prodding the prisoner forward. As the prisoner was pushed, the first criminal was dragged past nearby. The second criminal caught sight of the brutality put upon the first convict, causing them to halt. The prisoner turned and tried to run back into the locker rooms.

"No! No God please no!" came a female voice from under the hood. The guards struggled to hold on to her flailing body, but she managed to slip free. She made a mad dash towards the entrance, but a barrage of gunfire brought her down. The hood came off as the woman fell short of her end zone. The crowd sighed at the dead woman.

"Ah fumble!" laughed Nathaniel. "What a waste. One of the few females we get for these shows turns out to be a big disappointment for you all!"

"Who cares! Bring out another!" a man from the crowd yelled out.

Nathaniel, still laughing, responded, "So be it! Bring out the final contestant!"

The guards dragged out the two dead prisoners before the third slowly made his way into the open. The crowd roared again, knowing this was the final criminal and the most criminal of the day. The man walked with a limp, but he did not resist where he was being led towards. The criminal kept his head hung low while the crowd was jeering and taunting to the man. He walked into the center of the cage and let the guards lock him to the center. None of the guards remained inside the cage afterwards.

"This man!" began Nathaniel. "This man is one of the lowest forms of life. He is worse than any thief or adulteress. No normal murderer can match what this man has done." Nathaniel raised a hand in the air to show the number two. "We have for you today someone who has broken the second worst law we have: A child rapist and murderer!" At these words the crowd went ballistic. The laws of the camp had been set by the inhabitants. The people chose the severity of each action, so the crowd was in disbelief at how someone could actually break one of the top three. They wanted vengeance. They wanted blood.

Ryko looked down to see the man staring to the floor. He hadn't moved an inch since he was locked into place. Nathaniel went on about how the man kidnapped a little girl and tricked her into following him by telling her she was in danger. He then took the girl to one of the buildings designated as off limits and sexually assaulted her. He had tied a cloth over her mouth to prevent her from screaming. When the man had finished, he tried to strangle her with his belt. Her neck had broken, and the man wrongly assumed she was dead. The little girl was barely clinging to life when patrols found her. She could barely tell them what had happened to her before passing away shortly after. Even as the story of the criminal's animalistic actions were made known, the man stood unwaivering.

"We have for you a special guest today!" Nathaniel continued. "This man helped to save thirteen people from Chicago two years ago. When the rest of the team had given up hope, this man continued to fight! I present to you all, the Hero of Chicago: Ryko Morris!" The crowd applauded Ryko's efforts in appreciation of what he had done. "Go ahead, Ryko. Say Something."

Ryko scanned the crowd. He saw faces of both familiar and unfamiliar people. He spotted Megan near the center waving to him. He smiled before speaking. "I'm no hero," Ryko began. "I felt that those people still had a chance. I was fighting to protect people. This is something that good Mr. Hughes here has already made clear: Unity. We're depending on each other for survival. If we can't trust one another, we're all doomed to die here. If these executions teach you anything, know that we're not afraid to get rid of anyone who can't be trusted." The crowd remained silent, yet some nodded in agreement.

Ryko began heading down the long staircase to the field. He felt all the eyes watching his every movement. Once at the bottom of the stairs, Ryko headed for the cage entrance. On the way, he grabbed a pistol from one of the tables. One of the guards stepped aside to let Ryko pass. He stepped into the cage and stood toe-to-toe with the prisoner.

Ryko stared at the hood covering the man's face. The prisoner refused to look upwards. Ryko grabbed the hood and ripped it off quickly. Half of the man's face was covered in burns. His lips curled up where the skin was unable to completely heal. No hair grew on the man's head, and his left eye was completely white. He was also missing his left ear. Seeing the man drew no reaction from Ryko. He remembered pulling the man out of the fire two years ago. The sight of the man drew some gasps from the crowd.

"Ben," Ryko called quietly enough for just the prisoner to hear. "Look at me." Ben simply shook his head and kept his focus to the ground. Ryko grabbed him violently by the neck and forced the scarred man to hold eye-contact. "Look at me, goddamn you!" Ryko yelled at him.

A tear came from Ben's all white eye. "What?" he sobbed. "What could you possibly want from me?" Ben stared into Ryko's eyes with his only working eye.

Ryko continued glaring back into Ben's face, but he eased his grip on the man's neck. "Just answer me one question," he growled. "Why? Why did you do it? After all I had to go through to save you, why do you do this?" Ryko's rage caused him to tighten his grip again.

Tears began to spill from both of Ben's eyes at this point. He sniffed a few times, trying to think of a response. "Look at me..." he finally answered.

Ryko stared at Ben a few more seconds before finally letting his hand drop from the man's neck. He slowly shook his head in disapproval. Ben continued to weep while he looked back towards the bloodstained earth. Ryko turned to face the crowd, still silent in the hope to overhear some of the conversation. "You want this man?" Ryko yelled to the audience. "He's all yours!" Ryko turned quickly back to Ben with the pistol pointed at him. Ryko fired a single shot through the prisoner's shoulder, causing the man to drop to his knees in pain.

Ryko turned and walked out of the cage without looking back to Ben. The crowd began their normal chanting of punishments, but Ryko never looked up to respond to them. He heard cries of fire, castration, and the removal of fingers and toes by means of hammer and chisel. Ryko held onto the pistol and he climbed the stairs back to the top of the cage where Nathaniel affirmed to the crowd that all those actions would be taken.

When Ryko reached the top of the cage, he peered out over the bleachers. He could see the edge of the camp, outlined by high fences. Beyond the fences walked the infected dead. Ryko then followed the fence line around to see the fence keeping out the living corpses from the college campus. Guard towers were positioned every few hundred yards along the fence.

"How can you do this all the time?" Ryko asked Nathaniel.

Nathaniel looked back to Ryko to see him staring out at the fences. "The way I see it, we're saving these people. Saving them from turning into one of those things. If I could, I'd put myself through any type of torture than become one of them."

Ryko nodded in understanding. Nothing could be worse.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Ten years had passed since the initial outbreak occured. Nobody wanted to believe what was happening, but how could they ignore the facts? People would get attacked, die, and come back to life to repeat the process on others. They could only be stoppedby a complete shutdown of the nervous system - the easiest form being destruction directly to the brain. The survivors created nicknames for them such as "zeds", "z's", "fortics", or "dead heads". No matter what they were named, the truth still stood firm: these were zombies.

The first attack occured somewhere near New Orleans. Original documents catagorize it as a deranged individual. Police responded to the incident like any other case of violence, for why would they have any reason to do so otherwise? They confronted the man, and after he refused to obey commands, the police used deadly force to bring him down. The victims of the attacker were taken to the hospital. The infection on these people worsened, and they eventually died. Doctors were bewildered as to what was actually occuring to these victims. The bodies were moved to the morgue, where they eventually reanimated and attacked the staff on hand. Once those monsters hit the city streets, chaos ensued.

The attack took weeks before spreading throughout the state. The government took notice after forces were unable to quell the spreading "riots". Highways were completely shut down, and the National Guard was brought in. After highways were closed, an road leading out of the state was blocked off and checkpoints began. There were too many roads and too few guardsmen to contain the uprising. Once leaving Louisiana the undead spread north mostly. Any heading east were held off for a short time in Florida with citizens forming walls of defense. Zombies heading west were too few, and at first were held off by locals of small towns who already carried weaponry.

The nation went into a state of panic. Airports were flooded with people trying to leave the country. It didn't take long before outside nations began closing borders and turning away any incoming flights from the United States. When airports were shutdown, citizens ran for docks and piers to get any type of water transport available. There were certain instances of groups of people taking life rafts into the ocean and taking their chances with the sea.

When the undead managed to spread across three states, the government, namely the President, addressed the nation. Millions watched in disbelief as their elected leader spoke of these science fiction creatures as a reality. Most people living in the West just dismissed the warning as some sort of elaborate joke. It took nearly six months before the zombies hit the Pacific Ocean.

Large cities seemed to slow down the infected. Workers in skyscrapers could see entire hordes running through city streets. This gave them enough time to begin barricading the stairwells. The infection would not leave these cities unless in pursui of families on the run. Several instances were also recorded of bitten children being rushed from town to town, trying to find a hospital that had not been overrun.

Canada and Mexico began to gather troops to prepare for a defensive against these beats. By the time they managed to break through the borders, the amount of zombies was just too great for either force to handle. Both the northern and southern waves of zombies pushed forward until land's end. This process took merely one year to the north and three to the south. This spread of zombies, however, actually helped survivors in the US. The numbers spread so thin by that point, it wasn't as dangerous for survivors who managed to live that long to move about for supplies.

Those few survivors believed that the zombies would eventually starve to death. This theory was never able to be known as possible or not. Countries from Europe and Asia began to rally troops to send to the Western Hemisphere for help. Many landed on South America to try to wipe out something they knew little about. No country ever sent enough troops to wipe out entire continents worth of enemies.

Many cases were recorded of soldiers being bitten and taken to medic stations, much like what happened in the States originally. These missions to reclaim the West went on for two years before being abandoned. The last group to be evacuated from South America were from Russia. Three of the soldiers suffered bites before boarding the jet waiting to fly them home. Two of the soldiers were executed immediately and thrown off, but the third hid his wound. The man was sickly as he landed back in Russia, so he was ordered examined by the base physicians. He died before they were able to check on the man. As they searched his body for bullet wounds or shrapnel, they found a bite mark on his leg. The man suddenly sat up and made a feast out of the doctor. It wasn't long before the whole process started over.

It took five years before Europe and Asia were overrun. Island countries fared better off than any other. Japan, Sicily, Ireland, and Great Britain managed to stay safe until food supplies ran low. Many took their chances by crossing into the mainlands for supplies. Others starved to death in their homes, believing the government would povide. Australia and the many islands of New Zealand both suffered the same fate after time had passed.

Back in the United States at this point, any who managed to survive had done so on foot. People travelled in gangs so as not to be overrun. Wild animals began to roam the land freely. It was not a rare occurrance to find an entire family of raccoon or deer gathered in someone' old house to escape the harsh cold weather.

Camps established, much like the one occupied by Ryko and Megan, were usually done so near fertile land in order to grow protected crops for the inhabitants. Their camp was placed on a Midwest college campus surrounded by cornfields. A river also ran nearby, making it a prime location.

Living on a college campus was easy for those who were the first living in the camp. Lobby vending machines were smashed open for the food and beverage, then the heavy machines were pushed up against doors and windows - along with couches and conference tables - to create barricades. Once master keys were found, the dorms proved themselves to be caches of supplies. Students often stocked up on water bottles and various other groceries. Many items were found that could be used as weapons, such as baseball bats, golf clubs, and hockey sticks. Some rooms also had pocket knives left behind from students that carried the defensive weapons. And, obviousy, each floor continued bathrooms and already prepared beds to house thousands of survivors.

Other supplies that needed to be gathered often requiredheading into nearby towns. These "missions" as the survivors called they, usually headed out in three large vehicles with enough space to come back with more food, weapons, and possibly more survivors. Unfortunately not all missions were successful, and often times the convoys came back with less occupants than before.

Finding food proved to be easy enough. Original complaints about the vast amount of Wal-Marts and McDonalds turned into goldmines of food. Frozen foods were no problem to begin with, for the campus had its share of cafeterias. The hardest things to find were the metal and fences required to build a perimeter. Often times the survivors dug up fences from prison yards and carefully dragged them back to camp. Other missions taken were often times not so hard. Trips to fill up on water could be done at the river or with gallons from the gas stations and local shops. Hygene products could also be found in this manner as well as clothing and cigarettes.

The rarest of missions came from distress calls made over radio. These calls were generally the same: Scared voices reporting small groups of survivors in small, unprotected towns who were running out of supplies. These were the most dangerous missions of all, and many of these calls - even though being so few - were often times ignored for the simple fact that they were too risky.

This campus-turned-sanctuary was run by mainly one man: Seargent Jason John. In the beginning, decisions were generally made on a group concesus, but after a large increase in population, the group concensus decided to elect a single leader. The man chosen was a former police officer for the city the university resided in. Seargent John, or "The Sarge" as the citizens called him, had the final decision on whether or not a mission was too risky. He was also the one in charge of deciding when a building was off-limits or when to expand the perimeter of the camp. The Sarge had two appointed men of his choosing to keep track of how much weaponry and food were left in supply. These men were twins: Ryan and Kevin Webster. Ryan Webster, in charge of weaponry, was also the leading member of the city guard. Kevin Webster was the best doctor the camp had, and also an expert on nutrition.

Electricity within the community was scarce. It was reserved for emergency equipment such as the radios. Citizens of the camps had to find their own ways of entertainment. The people played much basketball and football. Many of the exercise machines in the university were out of commision due to no electricity, however the weight rooms and dumbells remained for use. The public executions held at the football stadium were always a large favorite, but not enough crime was committed to hold them regularly.

The most entertainment cam through storytelling. Survivors told the stories of living through the initial outbreak. Instead of being saddened and appauled by these retellings, the survivors felt a sense of unity with one another knowing they weren't alone in the experience of trajedy. Apart from these depressing accounts of recent history, the more creative of survivors told stories of wonder and fantasy to large groups of people. Artists and poets would often times draw slogans, artworks, and short comics into the dirt.

The dirt was another large problem the survivors faced. The years passing led to disturbed land in the West. This land, left without airefation, caused something of a secon, but smaller, Dust Bowl to occur. Although short lived, the damage was done. Streets and yards were covered with dirt. Luckily for the camp, the field used to grow corn was protected by a wall of forestation. Much of the dirt was removed by the sporactic rains of the area, however it still existed on grassy areas.

Weather was another course of concern for the citizens. The geographical position of the university led to what some referred to as a sort of "climate hell". Strong winds were left unchallenged by the lack of a city skyline in a twenty mile radius. Rainclouds formed easily from the North and Great Lakes area. In Winter, temperatures dropped on certain days to those lower than that of many Alaskan cities. There was no big concern with the heat during summer, but the direct exposure to sunlight was a problem for many.

A curfew was set at night for safety reasons. One hour after sunset, everyone was required to stay indoors unless special permission was granted. Night shift spotters, located on the various buildings, decided that individuals with enouh clearance to be out at night be made to wear a white baseball cap with a blue stripe running from front to back. These measures were established in order to identify humans from zombies in the case of a nighttime breach.

Zombies were not the only threat to the survivors of the camp. Also living outside the fences were hungry animals that once again had taken over the land. Besides animals, a big threat to the camp were roving street gangs that travelled in large groups. These gangs travelled in heavily modified vehicles. They roamed the earth freely and often times would attack survivor camps when supplies were running low. The campus had been attacked once before, however the gang was held back by the guards on rooftops. Many of the able-bodied inhabitants also helped out in what way they could.

Constantly the theme of "unity" was expressed throughout the camp. For the point in time which these survivors had made it until was done so through teamwork, and the only way that they would continue to survive is with one another. However, in the back of the minds of every person lie the thought of abandoning this camp in order to do what he or she had been doing all along: surviving.


End file.
